The Christ of Vigo

There are many stories that state the origin of the figure of Christ and the truth is that none of them has been shown through documents. By oral tradition, the Christ is also known as the Christ of the Salt; however, there is no paper that certifies it.

The legend tells that there was an embarkation which transported a load of salt and picked up the image at sea and they were threatened by strong waves; the seamen opted for holding up in the first harbor to leave there the image and promised to attend a mass barefooted. However, they could reach Vigo without any problems and when the storm eased; they came back to the sea forgetting to fulfill their purposes. The sea waves elevated again against the embarkation and they had no choice than to get back to harbor. The operation was repeated again and seeing that the navigation was impossible they realized they had forgotten to fulfill their promise so they took away the image of the Colegiata to the city likely for the proximity to the harbor and listen there to the mass.

The Christ of Vigo

Several doubts come away from this legend. One of them brings one of the hypotheses. If the image arrived in a ship, isn’t it logical that the seamen deposited her in the convent of San Francisco, in the Berbes to which they are linked even in the Chapel of mercifulness which belonged to the trade union of the giddies? We are inviting you to think about that and to take part with your comments in our forum. Maybe, your opinion can help to know the reality.

But, who throws the image to the sea and when? There are different versions which respond to this question but the most extended says that when the reign of Henry VII, the Christians threw the images to the sea to save them from the burning during the persecutions against the Catholics and waiting for a ship to rescue them.

Other hypotheses place the figure of the work of the Basque sculptor Sebastian Ucete dating it back to 1740, thus, coinciding with the same date of the first documentary allusion of Christ: it deals with a letter Mrs Bernarda Bello de los Rios addressed to the town council requesting permission to place a scaffold which had been withdrawn to pave the temple, “this had been done and rebuilt at the back of a pillar which is in front of the one where the Holy Christ of the Victory is placed, and in correspondence to this scaffold which is in the pillar at the right side not being hindrance or impediment”.

All legends imprison a reality; however, we do not have written attestation that reveals the unmistakable origin of Chris

“If men are forgiven for their offences, the heavenly sire will also forgive you, if you do not forgive men their offenses, the heavenly sire will not forgive your offenses either.”

Mat 6:14-15

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